Commissioned by CEDIMAT – Centro de Diagnóstico y Medicina Avanzada y de Conferencias Médicas y Telemedicina for its Cardiology Center, this sculpture is a monumental heart that doubles as a place of rest.

The work emerged from an inherited memory of survival: Batlle’s grandfather lived through the Armenian Genocide, Meds Yeghern (Մեծ Եղեռն), “the Great Crime.” This history, carried through their mother’s stories, positions survival not as closure, but as a generational beginning that continually reshapes subjectivity.

The heart becomes both organ and architecture: a vessel that shelters, a home with many small houses, a site where memory and community can dwell. It offers a seat — a space for the living — while holding the weight of those who did not survive.

Originally conceived as a tribute to the victims of the Armenian Genocide, Batlle expands the work’s dedication to all wars, to all who endure violence and displacement, and to the unknown communities that remain after catastrophe.

A smaller replica of the sculpture entered the permanent collection of the Armenian Museum of America and was included in Gandzaran! Notable Selections from Our Collection (2024), curated by Ryann Casey with Gary Lind-Sinanian and Elias Trout.